Comment by Jazzycakes2

I love dropping this minion down as bait in round 1, there's not much that can counter apart from SWP (which is a good trade off!), only mages/druids/rogues/paladins can counter with their hero power to remove divine shield.

He will usually live long enough to buff with a SSC to make him more menacing.

Comment by vicodinchik

is it useful for rush decks?

Comment by DrainBlut

One of the best 1 mana minions in the game. The Divine Shield is worth a lot more than 1 health. Dropping a 1/2 means it can die equally to a 2/1 or spells that hit for 2 damage, such as Backstab or Drain Life. The Divine Shield however will eat an entire attack or ability, regardless of damage dealt, forcing them to hit the unit twice if they want to kill it. They could use a Silence, but if they waste a Silence on a 1/1, they're doing you a favor.

Comment by taohinton

This card is far better than an initial inspection might suggest it to be. Despite its 1 Attack, this card can easily become a thorn in your opponent's side, especially if you are able to buff it up later on. Also an excellent cheap source of rocket-fuel for Blood Knight.

In exchange for its single point of Health, this minion's Divine Shield offers the potential for extremely efficient trades, and usually forces the opponent to waste at least two attacks, and possibly cards, in order to remove it. Probably worth 2 mana, for 1 mana this is an excellent cheap minion, and is a particularly common pick for aggro decks, due in part to it being so hard to remove.

Even mages, usually masters of dispatching weak minions, will have to trade at least 4 mana on a double Fireblast to remove this 1 mana minion, which in the early game can place them at a substantial disadvantage in terms of pace. Alternatively, the Squire can trade for two 1 health minions, or soak up two attacks from any other minion, again wasting a fair amount of potential hero damage. Probably the best response is an Arcane Missiles, but even this has at best only a 50% chance of fully destroying the minion.

For these reasons, it's tempting to just ignore it, especially given its weak damage potential. However, even with 1 Attack this damage soon builds up, and with its Divine Shield intact it makes an excellent target for later buffs. It also poses an ongoing threat to any 1 Health minion played, making many small minion options hardly worth playing.

Under good conditions, the opponent is forced to choose between burning valuable mana, minions or cards to remove a 1/1, and allowing it to slowly but surely chip away at their Health.

Of course, this card really shines when played on turn 1 or fairly soon thereafter. In the late game, it makes useful bait for the wrath of Ragnaros the Firelord, but is otherwise of minimal use.